Grumpy Vegan

Perhaps as an act of redemption over this yesterday’s Observer (yes, the Grumpy Vegan did say he doesn’t buy but he did) published “Why eating less meat could cut global warming” and on The Guardian blog there’s Tara Garnett of the Food Climate Research Network commenting on the article.

As a story in Sunday’s Observer shows, there are impacts along the whole of the food chain – from growing the food, processing, packaging and refrigerating it, to retailing it (all those chiller cabinets, for instance). In its entirety, the food we eat contributes to about a fifth of the UK’s climate changing emissions. Food transport contributes only a fraction of this.

Almost half our food related emissions result directly from rearing animals for the meat and dairy products that form such a staple part of the British diet. Burping cows and sheep emit methane while all livestock cause nitrous oxide gases; both these gases have a far more powerful greenhouse gas effect than carbon dioxide.

So rather than worrying about how far our carrots have travelled, it’s far more important to think about how much cheese, meat and milk we actually consume, and trying to cut down.

But ends with this conclusion

In short – we need to eat fewer meat and dairy products (and, if farmers are to survive, pay more for them) and use the whole of the animal when we do. Offal scoffing might be back in vogue but will it ever become mainstream? And as for reducing our intake of animal products as a whole, the question remains: is that something that most of us could commit to?

All of this reminds the Grumpy Vegan of the point that you can influence public behaviour through a range of incentives and disincentives as well as legislation. For example, it’s now illegal to smoke in enclosed public space. At last — and importantly — you can now have a drink in a pub without smelling of tobacco smoke. Such bliss. So, the Grumpy Vegan thinks that if you could:

1. Reassign agricultural tax subsidies from animal to organic fruit, vegetable and crop production to feed directly to people

2. Tax meat and dairy products like tobacco because of their harmful effects

3. Educate people on how to live on a healthy vegan diet and how to cook vegan

4. Work with retailers to enable them to offer shoppers locally grown food

Well, we will go a long way to improve our health and environment as well as end a lot of animal cruelty and exploitation.